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NTT Communications Corp. is testing the waters of wireless broadband access with a trial in Japan. The "WINQ," or Wireless, Intelligent, Non-line-of-sight, and Quick install, trial will get under way in September and run through August of next year. The trial will be conducted in the Kanazawa area of Ishikawa Prefecture.

Sprint has been offering its Business DSL service package to small businesses since last year, and now the communications company is expanding its offering to include large business customers. Sprint is rolling out the service in 32 markets, and is offering large business customers high-speed access speeds of up to 4 Megabits per second downstream and 512 kilobits per second upstream.

Copyright 2002 Sun Media Corporation The Edmonton Sun…06/07/2002 From LexisNexis Don't be surprised if you see someone cruising down the information superhighway - literally - thanks to a recently announced Internet service for mobile homes, RVs and trucks. In July, Skycasters LLC, an Akron, Ohio, provider of satellite broadband services, is launching the Transportable Solution, a fully p...

Half the battle is getting the word out. Yesterday EarthLink Inc. forged a broadband partnership with Gateway, today Comcast Cable Communications Inc. has unveiled an alliance of its own with RadioShack Corp. Under the deal, Comcast will work with RadioShack to develop a "point of sale presence" at nearly 600 RadioShack stores in the MSO's 26-state service area.

The Bluetooth-enabled mobile phone market is expected to reach 20 million this year, and Texas Instruments Inc. wants to make sure it is in on the action. The chipmaker has developed a single-chip Bluetooth solution — the BFR6100 — that integrates a digital Radio Frequency processor and Bluetooth baseband on one chip.

To boost its cash position, WorldCom Inc. is exiting the wireless resale business. WorldCom has been in the wireless resale business for more than five years. The company got into the business with the goal of becoming a facilities-based wireless carrier — a goal that was never realized. As of late, the telecom company has been plagued by a slowdown in consumer spending, a lagging long-di...

Copyright 2002 Toronto Star Newspapers, Ltd. Toronto Star…06/06/2002 From LexisNexis Worldwide sales of semiconductors, after their worst-ever slump in 2001, are on the rebound this year and will rise a modest 3.1 percent to $143 billion (U.S.), a trade group said yesterday. After rising modestly this year, global sales of semiconductors will rise 23.

Moody's Investors Service has downgraded beleaguered Adelphia Communications Corp.'s credit ratings for the third time in less than three months. The ratings firm says a bankruptcy filing is "potentially imminent." Adelphia's unsecured debt — roughly $4.9 billion — has been cut from Caa1 to Caa2, while its convertible and exchangeable preferred stock — roughly $1.

Moody's Investors Service has downgraded beleaguered Adelphia Communications Corp.'s credit ratings for the third time in less than three months. The ratings firm says a bankruptcy filing is "potentially imminent." Adelphia's unsecured debt — roughly $4.9 billion — has been cut from Caa1 to Caa2, while its convertible and exchangeable preferred stock — roughly $1.

Gateway Inc. has lassoed another broadband partner. Consumers interested in signing up for EarthLink Inc.'s high-speed Internet service can now mosey on over to their nearest Gateway Country Store. Under the agreement, EarthLink will market its EarthLink High Speed Internet service over Time Warner Cable to consumers in 56 Gateway retail stores in 14 states.

Motorola Inc. is restructuring again. In what has become almost an annual ritual, the electronics giant is shuffling another one of its divisions, this time in an effort to advance the IP industry. The company is splitting its IP Systems Group into three businesses: IP Communications Gateway, IP Systems and Transmission Network Systems.

Right now adult content sites are fueling the video-on-demand-over-IP market, but family-oriented VOD services are gaining ground, one analysis says. The VOD-over-IP market is expected to balloon to a $1.9 billion industry by 2006, according to In-Stat/MDR. The revenue will be generated from subscriptions and pay-per-view.

AM Communications Inc. has snatched up one of its competitors Nex-Link Communications Project Services LLC. AM plans to roll the broadband network installer into its AM Broadband Services Inc. subsidiary. Once the merger is complete, Nex-Link will become a wholly owned subsidiary of AM Broadband Services and will operate under the name AM Nex-Link Communications Inc.

Copyright 2002 Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service The Dallas Morning News…06/05/2002 From LexisNexis ATLANTA — The precipitous fall in phone and Internet service prices during the last few years has been so steep it's jeopardizing the financial viability of many telecommunications companies, said Verizon Communications Inc.

Copyright 2002 Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service San Jose Mercury News…06/05/2002 From LexisNexis An influential group of technology companies, consumer electronics manufacturers and motion-picture studios recommended a new standard Wednesday to prevent digital television broadcasts from being spread over the Internet.